Loving wine is a long dance: It can be fast and funky, or elegant and sweeping like a waltz. And, like the dance of life, you can have multiple partners – some are better dancers than others, some love you and leave you; others are endearing and you ask them to dance again and again, and some leave you feeling empty and cold.

Good wines are taken to the dance, but some are left behind because they get no love or respect. I have never met anyone that has told me that their favorite wine is Spain’s granacha – or, as it is commonly known by its French name, grenache. Yet it is like the ugly sister that no one dances with: If you do get her on the dance floor, she turns out to be the best dancer in the disco.

In California’s central valley, grenache is a major player in the production of generic jug wines like burgundy. Grenache also produces a sweet blush, a white grenache, in jugs and five-liter boxes. It is an ideal grape varietal for bulk wine, producing fruity flavor and a lot of alcohol. It is also a high-yielder, producing a lot of tonnage per acre, with decent results.

In France, it is one of the most widely planted grape varietals, particularly in the south where it is often blended with other red Rhone varietals such as syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault.

Producing such red wines as côtes du Rhône, Corbières, côtes du Ventoux and others, grenache also makes the best dry blush wine in the world – Tavel. Grenache in a blend is heaven in the mouth; grenache produces some of the best red fruit flavors of any varietal. It makes an excellent wine when blended with the dark fruit flavors of syrah and spicy mourvèdre. Wines like côtes du Rhône and the popular Spanish wine Sangre de Toro are my favorites in the everyday-drinking category. Smooth and drinkable, grenache-based wines are good with a variety of foods and as a beverage on their own.

In the wine world, syrah is king and grenache is the ugly sister of the Rhone varietals. Why? Because grenache is a wine that is most often blended and syrah is made with 100-percent of that varietal, like the famous Hermitage, Saint Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. The rap against grenache is that the wine it produces has no legs, no longevity and needs to be blended. But all first-growth Bordeaux, like Château Latour, are blended, as are several other grape varietals besides cabernet sauvignon.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas are grenache-based wines, and some of the most distinguished wines in the world. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is truly a great wine. Big, rich and complex, the wine explodes on the palate. The noble syrah plays second fiddle to grenache, which simply grows better in the warm southern-Rhone region.

In English, Châteauneuf-du-Pape means “new castle of the pope.” It was the name of the summer home of the Avignon popes in the 14th century. The bottles are embossed with the symbol of the papacy. The wines are 60 to 75-percent grenache, and contain a fair percentage of syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault. Thirteen grapes are authorized for use in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, including several white varietals. It is a world-class wine.

In Spain, where grenache is known as granacha, the varietal is grown extensively throughout the country and has been for centuries. In historic Rioja, where the greatest Spanish red wines are made, it is part of the traditional blend of their wines. In Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, a small percentage of granacha is blended with tempranillo, a clone of pinot noir, making a gorgeous wine. Further south of Rioja, in Rioja Baja, the wine is almost 100-percent granacha. The wines are traditionally aged in large American oak casks, which impart a creamy vanilla flavor to them.

Over the past 10 years in California, where century-old zinfandel vines are still producing luscious fruit and making wonderful wines, these wines are very popular with wine drinkers, and are thus very profitable. This fact is not lost on Spanish winemakers, where old-vine granacha is abundant. Old-vine granacha is deep, dark and full of finesse, and costs about one-third of what California old-vine zinfandel costs. The old-vine granacha has become the darling of wine critics like Robert Parker, Jr., who has been giving 90-point-plus scores for these wines that retail for slightly above $10.

Australian and French winemakers are following suit in making old-vine grenache, but are still far behind the game in comparison to the Spanish.

Finally, hearts stop at the wine disco when the beautiful and sultry Señorita Granacha steps onto the dance floor. She has her choice of partners, because now they know she can really cha-cha-cha.